Thursday, January 17, 2019

These cards were sent by "Zippy," the Luis Torren super collector of the blog "Torren up Cards." Thank you for the cards Zippy.

As you can see, Zippy also went ahead and took care of some of my recent Topps set build needs. I remember that Ryan Rayburn being one of the first 2013 cards I saw, and remember being annoyed that I never pulled one, and then at some point I stopped remembering it at all, until it showed up in this envelope.

Also included was a 2012 Jordan Pacheco. Pacheco for many years carried the torch of being the best (and I believe only) New Mexico kid in the majors. New Mexico isn't a huge State population wise, so like everyone else around here I felt like I had some ties to the kid. One he was a regular at my favorite restaurant in Scottsdale that was next to my place down there (about mile from the Rockies Spring Training facility) and he grew up in the same culdesac in Albuquerque as one of the lawyers I work with. That said I've never spoken a word to the kid, I've just rooted from afar (or occasionally from across the bar of the now defunct "The Cove" at Indian Bend and Scottsdale Road).

The New Mexico torch has now been passed to a kid named Alex Bregman, maybe you've heard of him. There's also another guy carrying the State's yellow flag in the majors, Blake Swihart. He was off my radar, until a few ago. While sitting at the grill at the ski area near Farmington, Purgatory (70 miles from my garage to the lift), a couple of kids came up and hit the guys sitting next to me up for autographs. One was Swihart, the other was some other Red Sock whose name has since escaped me. I bit my tongue and kicked myself for leaving my Yankee cap in my car. I tend to leave guys alone as much as I can. I'll just be keeping an eye out for his cards going forward.

These cards, I believe, represent the last of my 2018 mailings I was behind on. So I'll be attempting to get my "year in review" stuff up soon. I don't feel too bad as it's still January and I'll still hear the occasional "happy new year" in the course of my days.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

I opened this package and perhaps the largest assortment of Fleer Tim Wallach cards I've ever been sent came pouring out. They were sent by Bo of Keizer, Oregon, who is a wildly generous guy. When it comes to "non-Topps" brands of cards, I think at the end of the day I can safely say, that I am, and always have been a "Fleer Guy." There was definitely a time during the 80's that I considered Fleer my favorite brand, Topps included. I loved the stickers, I loved the crown logo, they made pretty good gum too. Albeit, gum that didn't come with the cards. But I also liked the designs. The backs from '83-86 don't get nearly enough credit for their innovation in design. And while I won't die on the hill of saying Fleer had the best run of designs in the 80's (it doesn't, Topps does), you can't convince me that it doesn't blow Donruss out of the water. From 1981 to 1992, I'd take the Fleer design over Donruss every year but '87 and '90. And '90 is a very close call for me. Feel free to disagree, I won't lose sleep over it or think any less of you.

Not all of the 186 cards sent by Bo were Fleer, as you can see in the pictures. Which is fine, I like all Wallach cards. The K-Mart Dream team card will always be one of my favorite odd-ball cards. Thank you so much for the cards Bo. I'll see what I can come up with to send back your way.

I think another reason for my affinity for Fleer back in the 80's (and today for that matter), is due in no small part to their basketball cards. They were more or less the only game in town for basketball cards for the later part of the 1980's, which was also my peak period for buying cards. Putting out cards for another major league gave Fleer a feel of legitimacy that Donruss lacked. For a couple of years now I've been making a slow and steady effort to complete the first three Fleer Basketball sets. Bo was kind enough to throw these four needs my way. They're not just scrubs either, two of those are Clyde Drexler's. Drexler, sadly, has somewhat fallen through the cracks of Basketball lore, but as anyone over the age of 40 can tell you, for about a 5-10 year period he in was in the conversation for best player in the world, and that period over lapped with some well known names like Dominque, Jordan, Magic, Isiah. That '87-88 Drexler is no throw away card. So thank you very much Bo, I'll make it up to you.

And if anyone is interested, here are my remaining needs for those three Fleer sets, I'm more than willing to trade and am flush with doubles from the '86-87 set:

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

This group of six cards represents the second time in 2018 Dan of Victoria, Minnesota sent cards my way. The 1983 Topps is always a welcome surprise to see in an envelope. While it's not exactly a "scarce" card in my collection, it is one a rarely receive in packages like this.

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Tom, who runs the blog "The Angels, In Order," sent these 14 cards way back in May of 2018. Another envelope that was lost in the shuffle of my move. It's not the first time Tom has sent cards, and they're always welcomed arrivals. I encourage you to check out his blog by clicking the link above, or the logo at the bottom of this post.

Despite the description of contents written on the front of this envelope, I was still surprised when I opened it. This card was sent by Steven of Indio, California last October. Thank you for the card Steven. While it is in fact a 1983 card, it happens to be Fleer and not a Donruss. An easy enough mistake to make, and be it Donruss, Fleer, Stuart, or any other brand, I don't care so long as it says "Tim Wallach" on the front.

These three cards were sent by frequent contributor Bo, way back in August. I'm just getting to them now. Sorry Bo. The 1997 Collector's Choice was the only Wallach card produced in 1997, and as result serves as the only "bookend" card for Wallach with his full career stats. So despite it's less than thrilling design, it's always been one of my sentimental favorites.

I moved this year. Not far, just across town. In the process, in addition to falling behind in posting cards that had been sent to me, I misplaced a few envelopes. This was one of them. As you can see from the cancelation stamp, this was sent way back in April 2018. My bad. It was a nice mailing from Mark of Saratoga Springs, New York. Included with the cards was a very nice note from Mark who was lucky enough to attend a good number of Expos games before they relocated to Washington.

There were also cards. I don't recall how many or which ones, because I misplaced them. They weren't thrown out, they were either prematurely filed away, or inadvertently credited to a different envelope.

So Mark, I apologize for my mix up, and thank you for the cards, Saratoga Springs has been added to my map.

McKinney, Texas is a new city for frequent contributor Nick, but his packages haven't changed from the ones he used to send from Allen, Texas. Nick is a fellow Tim Wallach card collector, but thankfully he's happy with one of each card and more than willing to share his doubles. This one included 135 cards. Not bad. I've tried to help him out with a few he may not have from time to time, but it's tough to do given how thorough his collection is. Some of the highlights included in this lot were a 1993 Stadium Club Dodgers card, a 1993 Pacific, and a 1988 Jiffy Pop Disc. It's only my 6th copy of the Stadium Club Dodgers card and the first one to cross my path since 2013. The '93 Pacific and '88 Jiffy Pop Disc are only the second ones I've acquired. There were also a couple of '83 Topps stickers, which are the first one's I've added in 2018.

Thursday, January 10, 2019

This package of 36 cards is (I believe barring two Tim's a couple blocks apart) the 2nd one sent in 2018 by Tim of Brooklyn, New York. These came way back on October 19, 2018. I am so far behind. I'm also determined to be caught up and get a "Year in Review" post up by the 14th. Might not happen, but I'm confident I will be before the end of the month.

Sunday, November 25, 2018

These eleven Wallach cards, and roughly two dozen 2012 Topps set needs, were sent by Marc of Houston, Texas. Marc operates the blog "Remember the Astrodome," and has become a regular contributor of Wallach cards. Thanks for the cards Marc, and I appreciate the 2012 Topps as well, as I've been extremely neglectful to my set needs of late.

In addition to those Wallach cards, Marc sent along a cluster of 2012 Topps. I returned to the world of card collecting back in 2008 with some random packs of Topps bought in a K-Mart. I wasn't a set builder back then, as I was a Wallach and rookie card collector. Since then, I've become a devout set builder focusing on vintage sets working backwards from 1991. But at some point I decided I should catch up on what I had from 2008 to present.

2012 is a set that was one of my more incomplete efforts. I don't recall buying fewer packs in 2012, but that seems to have been the case. Marc obviously took a look at my set needs page, and took a big chunk out of it. Here's where I stand on 2008 to 2017 on Topps Base Sets:

Friday, November 23, 2018

This great assortment of 27 cards and a handful of stickers was sent by Alex of Mableton, Georgia. It's always awesome to find an '83 Topps Wallach. That was the first Wallach card I ever owned, and while I've never declared an "All-Time Favorite," it's certainly on the short list. This wasn't just a stray '83 mixed in with 14 copies of 1990 Fleer and a '92 Donruss, this envelope included a run of Topps base cards from '83 straight on through to '87.

The Fleer stickers are project I want to tackle one day. I want to put together a binder of all of the stickers from the 1980's Fleer sets. There is just something about them that I find very endearing, and feel like it would be a nice addition to my collection and entertaining endeavor.

Thursday, November 22, 2018

These seven cards were sent by Korora of Akron, Ohio, which has put the home of The 'Zips on the map. The 1991 Score Superstar is a somewhat unusual card to see, but a trend I'm keeping an eye on is 1989 Upper Deck.

Back in say 1991, the I had more copies of the 1989 Upper Deck card than any other Wallach card in my collection. Today I have fewer than 200 copies, which isn't by any means a small number, but it is noticeably smaller number than what I have for other junk wax sets from the era. I had so many of them at the time because every card shop in Phoenix was busting at the seems with 1989 UD. Yet today, people seem to be sitting on it. I expect it will level out eventually and I'll end up with as many copies of '89 UD as say '90 Fleer, but for now, it's lagging behind.

Monday, November 12, 2018

This card was sent by Corey of Plainview, NY. That's on Long Island for those of you that are curious. It's marked on the map now, so you can confirm this, in case you don't believe me. Thanks for the card Corey, I really appreciate it. Everyone counts.

Friday, November 2, 2018

These eleven cards were sent by frequent contributor, John, of Lake Barrington, IL. He sent them in August. My bad. You may notice the photo is different than my standard photo for these post. The reason for that is my scanner died on me. I had every intent of buying a new one when it did. I was just busy, and as I became less busy, it occurred to me that I hadn't needed a scanner for a single thing other than my card blogs. This thought made the idea of shelling out money that could be spent on other things (like cards) for a scanner seem less than enticing. So I put it off, and I put it off, and here we are in November, and I'm posting cards I was sent back in August, and doing so without a scanner. At some point, I'll decide I need a scanner at home, but for now, the photos of cards are going to look like this. I actually kind of like it. Also, I have a massive backlog of cards I've been sent that I need to get to. So thank you everyone for the cards and your patience. They're both appreciated.

And thank you John for these cards. John mentioned in a note that he is a fan of the '88 Donruss All-Star, in no small part due to the old NL Logo on the card. I am a hard line supporter of the old AL/NL logos and feel the consolidation of the umpire uniforms across MLB is a greater crime against the game than this interleague play and wild card nonsense that as been polluting our sport for more than two decades now.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Recently eBay hasn't been yielding much as far as large lots of Wallach cards go. There's been a few decent size lots that pop up, but sellers seem to be confusing their junk wax Wallach commons, for hi-grade 1960's Topps commons. This lot of 106 cards came to me under my 10¢ a card (shipped) price limit I impose on these things. If I could unload all my unwanted junk wax from say 1991-1995 at 5¢ a card shipped, I would do so in a heartbeat, so I'm not sure what these sellers are holding out for. Perhaps my ego is growing too large for my own good, but I sort of feel like I'm in a position to set the market price for Wallach cards, given as I'm the only person on the planet actively buying them in bulk.

This lot was a nice a little assortment, and as always, I'll be keeping an eye out for more.

Monday, September 17, 2018

Card Review: 9.0 I like this 1993 Topps design. It just has that inherent "baseball card feel" to it. The superfluous blue "rediscover Topps" stamping along the side does nothing but slightly detract from the original, thankfully, it's somewhat difficult to see in blue foil. Hopefully any kid that may have pulled one of these and was seeing 1993 Topps for the first time, wouldn't get to bad of an impression.

Friday, September 7, 2018

These cards were sent by regular contributor Max, of Ramsey, NJ. The 1985 Topps Wallach is on my extremely short list for my All-Time favorite Wallach card. It is without question in the Top 5, almost certainly Top 3, and depending on my mood and the lighting, it wouldn't take much arm twisting for me to call it my favorite. If I ever do a list, it'll probably come down to the '85 or '83 Topps, but I'm not ready to commit to anything yet.

Like so many sets from the 1980's, ink levels varied so much from card to card, that how I feel about a card can really change depending on the particular sample in front of me. Sometimes it's like looking at two different photos. The 1984 Donruss Wallach for instance, can look like it was taken during a cloudless sunny July afternoon in Wrigley, or an overcast, rain delayed game. With the 1985 Topps Wallach, I prefer the more sun bleached variations.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

I suspect Watertown, NY, has become somewhat of a national distribution hub for Dodger cards. Similar to how airlines choose a city, such as Denver, to route all the flights through then have everyone change planes and make their way to another destination. I see only a small sample of the surplus Dodger cards that make their way through Watertown. In particular, I see the duplicates of one player whose been retired for over two decades and spent a mere three and a half seasons on the hot corner for the Dodgers. Small as that sample size is, I still see a lot of them.

The sheer volume of Dodger cards that go in and out of Watertown must be somewhat spectacular. My current hope is that The Nightowl ends up needing a Wallach as one of the final cards in one of the 1980's Fleer sets he's working on, and he gets flooded with 200 copies of an '83 Fleer Wallach or something.

This latest batch of ten Wallach cards from Watertown includes a trio of inserts. Looking at them, I can't help but notice that these early inserts were aimed at set builders. They weren't particularly scarce at one to a pack, but building a full set of six hundred Silver Signatures Collector's Choice would be a monumental task. And I think they hold up relatively well. A Mike Trout signed insert card numbered to five with a piece of bat on it may be extremely rare, but will hold it up? Especially since there are seemingly fifty different cards numbered and signed each year and each of them in various print runs based on ink and border colors and twenty other trivial differences. I just see them as a novelty. And over the course of twenty year a career, how many tens of thousands of signed and numbered cards is a guy going to end up having?

If I mention the 1989 Upper Deck Griffey, 1984 Donruss Mattingly, or 1975 Brett, most of us can probably immediately picture the card in our mind. The 1968 Ryan isn't valuable because it was all that scarce, or is all that scarce today even. These cards were part of a shared experience for people who collected them at the time. That shared experience, and immediate recognition is what makes them iconic and desirable. Will some 2009 insert of a Hall of Famer numbered to five, or even one of one, really have much of a shelf life?

Why do I care? "Just collect what you like." Ultimately, I agree, but... I can't help but wonder if the Topps base set designs have suffered over the last decade as a result of all the time and effort spent on putting together a hundred different insert sets. People like "hits." To me a "hit" is one of those things Pete Rose did 4,256 times. To other's, they're a rare card in a pack and a chance to make money on the secondary market. Topps should help those collector's skip the ebay middle man. In a joint effort with MLB, and State Lotteries, they should put out baseball card style scratch off lottery tickets. Have some fun with the designs, and the games, I'd buy them. Even the tickets themselves could become collector's items.

I'd like to see odds disappear from the back of wrappers and be replaced with offers for T-Shirts and contest to go to the All-Star Game. Leave the gambling out of the packs, and the qwest for "hits" to the poor guys standing 60 feet and down hill from Clayton Kershaw. In any event, that was a long enough "get of my yard," rant. The Nightowl was also nice to enough to help me out with a few cards I need from one of my many ongoing set building efforts, 2011 Topps.

Friday, August 17, 2018

This box of 175 cards was sent by Nick of Allen, Texas. Nick is by, at least by my estimation, the only other devoted Wallach collector out there. I've ran into a good number of other Wallach fans, but most aren't card collectors. Thankfully, he's a collector of the more reasonable variety, and only needs one of each card. So I've sent a few odd-balls his way that he was in need of (I know it goes against my stated mission, but there's enough to go around), and in return he has been wildly generous in sending me duplicates.

A couple of odd things jumped out in the process of adding up these cards. Some how the 1989 Topps Sticker is the first new one I've picked up since 2012. The 1988 Fleer Award Winner also ends a multi-year drought without adding any. It's strange the cards that seem to end up being scarce. I don't know if it's actually a by product of low print runs, or just a statistical anomaly, but either way I find it interesting.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

These nine Wallach cards (and one particularly cool card of a kid from Utica featuring Wallach) were sent by Ben of New Haven, Connecticut, back in June. Sorry for the delay Ben, I really appreciate the cards and the nice note you included. These the first cards I've received sent from New Haven. For an allegedly smart college town thats home to Yale, Ben seems to be the only one there smart enough to collect baseball cards.

The scan doesn't show it too well, but the 3rd '90 Fleer on the right is off-centered to a pretty good degree. I bring this up not complain, but it occurred to me that I don't recall seeing too many off-centered Fleer cards. Maybe 1986 Fleer is an acceptation to that, but for the most part, especially after 1986, I'm pretty sure they're somewhat unusual. So it's nice to come across a 1990 Fleer of Wallach that stands out from the others a little bit.

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Ryan of Nova Scotia has sent me so many brown envelopes from Canada over the years, that I've come to think of them as being as distinctly Canadian as O-Pee-Chee and Tim Horton's. Coincidently, he sent these cards carefully wrapped inside of cardboard from a box of what I am assuming were Tim Horton's K-Cups. Short of throwing in some Kirk Muller cards and a dried Maple Leaf in his next envelope, I'm not sure how he can make his mailings much more Canadian.

Monday, July 23, 2018

These four cards were sent by Dan of Victoria, Minnesota. Dan actually sent these way back in April, but I'm just getting to them now. Sorry Dan. The 1992 Topps Kids Wallach is a card that has really grown on me over the years. I'm not sure I've ever seen any other cards from the set, but if they're all as nice as the Wallach, it's one I may try to complete at some point down the road.

Saturday, July 14, 2018

I recently picked up this lot of fifty 1982 Fleer Wallach cards on ebay. Typically on ebay, when it comes to lots, I like to keep it under 5¢ a card shipped, and avoid anything over 10¢ a card shipped, unless there is something really compelling about the lot. This one ended up costing me a little more than my dime a card ceiling once the shipping was added, but I can live with it. 1982 Fleer is one of my favorite non-Topps sets of the 80's, and while this card likely wouldn't make my non-existent Top 10 list for favorite Wallach's, it would definitely be in the honorable mention category.Updated Total:1982 Fleer x50: 294

Friday, July 6, 2018

These nine Wallach cards, and what is easily the greatest Andy Van Slyke (a Utica, NY area product) card ever printed, came courtesy of P-Town Tom of "Waiting 'til Next Year." It's been about a month since I've posted so my apologies to everyone who has sent cards and hasn't seen anything pop up.

Thanks for the cards Tom. I'll try to take a crack at some of your set needs.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

These cards were sent by Marc, of Houston, Texas. Marc operates the blog; "Remember the Astrodome." You should go ahead and check it out, it's well worth a look. My only complaint, is that given how nice the banner is for the blog, I would have liked to see J.R. Richard in place of bagwell and that awful non-tequila sunrise uniform, and probably would have squeezed in Glenn Davis or maybe Kevin Bass. But that's nit-picking.

Included with the nice mix of nine Wallach cards was an 8x10 photo. Not just a standard stock photo though. This one appears to have been put out by some company, presumably as the part of some sort of set? It reminds me of the posters Sports Illustrated used to produce (never a Wallach, jerks), but obviously smaller, and photo quality is very high, much more so than a poster. If you know what exactly it is, please fill me in, I'd love more details.